Need to Know
17 : 07 : 18

London – The Ministry is a new members’ club and co-working space opened by the iconic British nightclub.

The club, situated in London’s Southwark, features a 70ft-long bar, recording studio, a table service restaurant, serviced meeting rooms and a 40-seater cinema. With a focus on creative professionals who would have once frequented its nearby nightclub, membership to The Ministry will be exclusively available to those working in the music, film and TV, PR, technology and fashion industries.

Following the launch of its fitness space in 2017, the Ministry of Sound has been working to both protect and develop its brand amid the reported demise of London’s club culture. According to BBC Newsbeat, nearly half of all nightclubs in the city have closed in the last 10 years. However, as these spaces disappear, members’ clubs that combine co-working with leisure, performance and social activities are growing in popularity.

Montreal – #SelfCare is a new game created as an antidote to the aggressive plotlines of many of today’s gaming titles.

Created by Canadian magazine editor Eve Thomas in collaboration with games studio Tru Luv – a company that strives to create ‘experimental games focused on care and characters’ – #SelfCare will launch later this year as a smartphone game, with a narrative that revolves around spending a day in bed.

While video games often focus on stressful, violent or competitive situations, the character in this game practices the ultimate act of self-care by lying in bed all day surrounded by their favourite things, such as crystals, candles and a glass of water. Rather than following a narrative, players take part in short tasks, including Tarot card readings and breathing exercises. ‘As you take care of the character in #SelfCare, perhaps you can take care of yourself a little bit too,’ reads a statement from Tru Luv.

As the number of people diagnosed with depression and anxiety rises, new types of Intelligent Games are addressing these mental health issues by providing tools for self-care.

US – Following the launch of Instagram’s new long-form video platform IGTV, Bacardi is using co-creation to determine the type of content its followers want.

The result is a new branded music video from the rum brand, debuted on IGTV and featuring dancers Les Twins. Using the Instagram Stories polling platform, Bacardi and Les Twins asked their followers to vote on elements of the video, including its choreography, camera angles, lighting and length. Using the results of the polls, the final version of the music video was posted on Bacardi’s IGTV account.

‘We’re encouraging fans to actually choose what moves them, instead of just delivering ready-made content,’ says Laila Mignoni, director of creative excellence at Bacardi. ‘It’s a much deeper, more meaningful level of engagement that pushes fans to really think about what moves them and take control of the narrative.’

Bacardi’s use of IGTV as a tool for creating branded video content taps into a new era of marketing that goes Beyond Product Placement.

According to a new survey by Pew Research Center focused on social media use among 13-to-17-year-olds in the US, the number of teenagers who use Facebook has significantly decreased in the last three years.

Driving this decline is the growth of Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, which have become the top three social platforms among teens. They also highlight Gen Z’s preference for visual-first platforms.

As we explored in the Brand Redemption microtrend, Facebook is trying to counteract negative associations by repositioning itself as a force for good in society. This follows the launch of its Messenger app for kids, which was created to build positive brand recognition among younger generations.